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I'm so angry at this Wall Street bailout!
While the Wall Street crowd were feasting on the expansion of the market, the rest of us were kept on starvation rations. Now that their bubble has burst, it becomes our job to wipe their asses.
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Well put. People can starve, but not these fat cat corporations. They get all the care they need.
September 19, 2008 11:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
The problem is, Wall Street, rightly or wrongly, underwrites much of the underpinnings of our society. That they are getting a pass on their greedy incompetence is one thing, and irritating to be sure, that we simply let the mountains of debt torpedo the rest of the economy would truly be a face-spiting nose-cut.
Damned if we do, damned if we don't. The real answer is meaningful - and well-enforced - regulation ofter the dust settles.
September 19, 2008 12:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're dead wrong! It's about time that everyone make an attempt to understand the facts of the markets, mark-to-market accounting rules and so many other variables that may be incomprehensible, but nonetheless exist and make an emotion such as yours understandable, but indeed uninformed and therefore worthless.
September 19, 2008 12:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
We'll have to wait for someone other than you to explain all those things you say we need to know and understand.
September 19, 2008 12:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you! Because I read prmco's statement twice and still didn't see an explanation. I think what he may be trying to say is the old aphorism that goes like this: If you owe the bank $100, they own you. If you owe the bank $100,000, you own them.
I'm thinking that we need some sort of percentage of stock market transactions that goes directly into reimbursing this gigantic loss, thus the bastards that play get to be the bastards that pay.
September 19, 2008 12:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
You just don't understand that the problem was caused by people defaulting on mortgages. They borrowed and then walk away when prices dropped. Stop blaming wall street. And when everything collapses, it won't just be 'wall street' that suffers, lots of people across the country will lose their jobs, their pensions, their homes, etc. It will affect millions.
September 19, 2008 12:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
The poster theCleverBulldog has provided an excelllent explanation printed below. It's a start, but instead of being snide, you and others have to understand that these rules and workings are complex - incomprehensible - was the word I used. People have spent years and careers understanding and specializing in the study of securities, banking and accounting rules. Laymen are not expected to understand them and should attempt to temper anger and emotional responses with the modesty that should accompany lack of expertise. Now, on the other hand, maybe you are a professional in the field and are still angry.
September 19, 2008 4:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
You really don't understand the markets. The crisis on wall street started on main street. The democrats passed a law in the 90's that encouraged FNM and FRE to buy more sub prime mortgages, to increase minority home ownership. This, coupled with the low interest rates, led to a huge increase in buying, driving up home values. Once rates started to increase, the buying slowed, and prices started to drop. This caused a lot of people who had no equity to walk from mortgages that were now underwater. This accelerated the price drop. Due to Sarbanes-Oxley, financial companies are required to mark-to-market their assets. Since prices were plunging, there was no market, and the CDO, CDS, and other structured financial products backed by mortgages were written down to near worthless. This caused a huge hit to the balance sheets, causing rating agencies to downgrade them. This forced them to raise more capital to increase their reserves. But since stock prices were so low they couldn't raise funds. Short selling hedge funds pounced and shorted these companies hard, driving them down more, causing more ratings downgrades, etc. This is why Bear Stearns went bust, Lehman, Merril, and others. If the shorting was not stopped, they would all collapse. And it would throw hundreds of thousands out of work, and criple the economy.
September 19, 2008 12:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's not even just crippling our economy, it's crippling the whole world. We came within a few inches of the whole world going into financial meltdown...
It would be helpful if those of you who do not understand what is going on would jump from TPM for a few hours to some of the financial sights to get educated. If I can find a good tutorial, I will pass it on.
My husband is very savvy financially, having taken us from poor folks to a pretty comfortable lifestyle over the past 30 years. He has been able to make changes in our positions that have saved us many thousands of dollars in this downturn, but he's been SCARED for the 1st time ever.
No one, us included, like the idea of the people who put us in this position escaping unscathed, but there truly was no other choice...We can either help which allows them off the hook, or we can be plunged into a worldwide depression...so, really there is only one choice, ugly as it is.
September 19, 2008 12:53 PM | Reply | Permalink